Established 2018

CDC: Covid-19 Cases Confirmed At Lackland Quarantine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed multiple cases of novel coronavirus 2019 in people under federal quarantine at JBSA-Lackland in San Antonio. The first was a traveler who returned on a U.S. State Department-chartered flight from Wuhan City, China. The others returned on a State Department flight for passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama, Japan. The individuals will remain isolated at medical facilities until they test negative for the virus and are no longer at risk of spreading it. The CDC has the latest information on the number of people under quarantine who are infected and is updating its national numbers each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

There are no other cases in Texas, and these cases do not change the risk of infection for people in San Antonio or other parts of Texas because the patients have been under federal quarantine since their return and have not interacted with the public in Texas communities. The risk for all Texans remains low.

All travelers who have returned from China should stay home and monitor themselves for symptoms for 14 days after they were last in China. They should consult with a health care provider if they develop fever, cough or shortness of breath within that period. Local health departments across the state are in contact daily with returned travelers to verify that they remain symptom free.

The Texas Department of State Health Services is urging health care professionals to ask patients with respiratory symptoms about their travel history and contact their local or regional health department if they think a patient may have COVID-19. DSHS is working with local health departments to monitor and assess people with recent travel to China for possible COVID-19 testing.